Flood Control Method

ABSTRACT

A method of water capture by pin-pointing likely excess flow locations and preventing flood damage. Captured water into temporary storage such as tanks, reservoirs, fabric tube arrays, or available lakes, can ultimately provide fresh water augmentation in many regions. Captured water will be tested, treated as needed, reclaimed and identified into central online storage sites. Not needed excess flows would be released after storm season. By flood damage and clean up avoidance, it provides ultimate long term flood pollution abatement for homes, businesses, farms and communities of affected US waterways.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/229,429 filed on Jul. 29, 2009, entitled “Flood Control Method”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of controlling flood water by using new online databases to predict floods and redistribute the water to regions in need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Establishing a pre-flood harvesting capability and unifying the tasks and coordinated planning of applications, while retaining the present expertise will greatly economize Water, Power, and Environmental protection costs and operations. Growing water shortages, water quality issues, waste distribution controls and related recurring problems of floods, can be addressed with this method. Expansion of reservoirs, tank farms, temporary fabric tubes and storage, evaporators, tankers, barges, rail tankers and trucks makes good economic use of new and proven capabilities. Online system information with status of water quality, status and flood data tailored by location offers uniform controls, continuous reporting and summaries of Fresh water purified for delivery to Homes, Farms and Businesses. Incorporation of broad regional applications with a broader view of water availability can result from these unified activities. All can be accomplished in compliance with regulations at competitive water prices. Major Floods like one in 1924, Hurricane Katrina, plus ongoing levy maintenance, and some Damage Insurance for FMEA annual costs will no doubt continue to challenge us. Some regions will require additional flood control reservoirs. U.S. jobs (at least 25,000) and improved pure water using power or energy's waste heat including Nuclear Energy will also profit from above planned, guided, enhanced, and maintained facilities employing online coordinated information systems with uniform standards where appropriate. Reduced foreign dependencies in fossil fuel and farm products further enhance national objectives including US business and job retention.

Annual storm and spring thaw-driven floods along the major US rivers and their tributaries have resulted in loss of life and billions of dollars in damages and lost productivity to countless thousands of American families, homes, farms, and businesses. Several billions of dollars per year in after the fact flood claims costs for FEMA and private insurance costs to homeowners, farmers, and businesses have been increasing across many decades. Related costs for repair and a variety of products sold annually to potential flood victims, amount to negative economic cash flow with little predictability and minor relief to its victims. Growing costs from increasing and devastating storms require new efforts to solving these problems and investing in positive and attainable water resources. The present invention uses pre-flood capture to temporary storage units during storm season including test, treatment, and storage. Data monitoring, longer storage and transport will vary depending on needs and customer delivery. The present method is based on extensive review of agency reports, data, strategies and plans identified herein, as well as their fine capabilities exhibited in their respective studies, reports, and web sites. It is targeted and motivated by serious water issues across the US.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to combined digital data for potential flood water capture prediction and diversion enables new flood point control for federal and local agencies. New combined digital online stream flow, water depth, rate of change in depth, and designated flood depths at thousands of these same specific locations along more the 9.000 miles of Mississippi river regions and most main rivers of the US. This enables timely dispatch of new Flood Water capture teams to reach and set up water diversion equipment in hours instead of months or not at all. Locations will be zip-coded plus the corresponding Federal and State address codes by river and tributary locations. These are specified and permitted by USACOE and/or USGS of FEMA, with accurate numbered location sites of the potential flood points, and identified dikes, levy, reservoirs, and related flood ways of USACOE addresses. New addition of digital predictions of NOAA National Weather Service projected precipitation amounts, times, dates, locations of storms and wind directions, will also be mapped to the predicted exact locations, and apply any “road closed due to storm” broadcasts. All digital inputs will be displayed to Capture Team dispatcher coordinators in online Flood Control Centers from each source. These include FEMA, the US Coast Guard, State and local agencies. All will be digitally corrected to the same scales, time, and date periods. These sources will be mapped to digital US maps in a combined computers source of continuously upgraded data flow from these several US federal and local, and US mapping data sources. Commercial digital maps as needed, and already permitted will be used and maintained in the appropriate Flood Control Operations Centers. These centers will be established corresponding to existing regions and all will have emergency power backup.

Another object of the present invention a new combining, mapping and maintaining of multiple source digital online flood water data, planning and dispatching tailored equipping to location needs and specific sites in US with new, safer, quicker in operation and adaptive temporary storage by test-treat-tag stormwater EPA methods.

Another object of the present invention Cost of operation of the proposed flood control method will be borne by proceeds from the marketing of captured and purified excess stream flow water, as proposed. Reduction of flood claims' costs and loss of annual average 14 lives are obvious benefits.

Yet another object of the present invention are significant environmental benefits from using test, treat, tag and temporary store method at the water capture site, a new capability. It enables compliant recording of indicated contamination and zip-coded source and samples. This provides more specific address of any identified serious contamination for follow up to its source. Data and samples to process correction by local or federal authorities is a new environmental control.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 Shows a block diagram of the operations control center flowing to designated teams.

FIG. 2 Shows a block diagram of how the operation control model would be applied to a city like Los Angeles.

FIG. 3 Shows a block diagram of the command center.

FIG. 4 Shows a block diagram of the flood water capture teams.

FIG. 5 Shows a block diagram of safety and security of the flood control method water capture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed herein is a method of water capture by pin-pointing likely excess flow locations and preventing flood damage. Captured water into temporary storage such as tanks, reservoirs, fabric tube arrays, or available lakes, can ultimately provide fresh water augmentation in many regions. Captured water would be tested, treated as needed, reclaimed and identified into central online storage sites. Not needed excess flows would be released after storm season. Higher quality captured and treated water can be retained and distributed by metropolitan regions in compliance with current regulations. Such vitally needed fresh water could augment US metropolitan water districts, homes, and businesses. There are many options to capture (and temporarily store near capture site), move to purification, storage and transportation to customers. Long term cost effective water and power augmentation by cooperative metropolitan water sources can be accomplished by new and existing technologies and agencies. The present method will maximize these agencies' technologies and processes. It will employ initially over 15,000 to 25,000 Americans in its first phase and capitalize on available and planned power plants including nuclear power. It will assist USAGE and FEMA flood control resources by harvesting floods before they flood and move water to temporary storage for treatment and later transport to customers or release when storm threats subside. This turns negative annual costs associated with storm damaging floods (and clean-up) along US waterways, into fresh water for homes and businesses, particularly for markets in drought ridden areas. The method includes optional water purification and transportation methods. It can augment existing local water systems that are regularly under duress because of population growth and limited additional natural sources. California, for example, has many cities contemplating growth controls and increasing costs to existing customers to control limited power and water assets. Many other states have communities in similar water extremis.

Applying like talents of existing water and power agencies to new tasks, the method will add small numbers of key team leaders to existing identified agencies. It adds a new source to joint plans and maintains water status outlined in this method. The new steps are

-   -   1) Determining excess flow locations, water capture (harvesting)         directly from predicted flood area(s),     -   2) Treatment and relocation from capture site for discharge to         temporary storage. Temporary storage includes use of new strong         fabric, or geotextile water tubes near capture site for         screening or testing for quality,     -   3) Tagging of quality by location where captured, volume, date,         initial test results, temporary storage (exact zip-coded and         USAGE station address of where captured in instant and smart         reservoirs), and grouped by class for disposition.

As storm season proceeds, operation, purification, and delivery options within quality standards can determine transport to meet customers' requirements. Higher quality water can thus be retained in approved aquifer or infiltration fields. It involves oversight controls, plans and actions in unison that reduce costly floods, while avoiding down stream excess flows. Coordination with USAGE for use of reservoirs or notches (or floodways in extremes) would further mitigate storm water excesses and enable broad regulated release options. These tasks are urgent during storm capture, but post-storm purification, including evaporation and transport, quickly follows least-cost (sum of predetermined capture-to-store-to customer locations applied to available transport cost options between those locations) steps to predetermined sites and customers. Cost savings from purification by using excess heat from nearby existing or planned power generation plants (evaporation) will offset many onward costs. Cost of various current waste water treatment steps and reclaimable water steps are tailored to the many locations. These often use chemical processes, or dilution of the treated water containing such ingredients until it meets discharge standards per ingredient, and then flows it down the same waterway in most cases. The evaporation method that removes virtually all ingredients or contaminants for separate simplified process costs of evaporation. Evaporation produces “sludges” that contains many useful and reclaimable ingredients like fertilizers that can be marketed. The ingredients not marketable have the same disposal options, but those removed by evaporation for market avoid downstream “diluted” pollution of US waterways. By comparing the complete net costs of evaporative purification and all the costs of counterpart methods and their maintenance of equipment costs such as reverse osmosis and its filaments and associated filament replacing maintenance and other filtering costs of all these methods. Today some of these are hidden costs are passed on to the succeeding water districts or final customers. These steps augment US water availability, quality, inspection, transport, sludge disposal and services of current supporting agencies identified herein.

The offset against growing flood damage claims will demonstrate new water options for aquifer restoration. Significant flood cleanup cost avoidance can result which is seldom assessed during flood and storm periods. The present method introduces relocatable pumping or gravity flow diversion units to capture potential flood waters pinpointed by a new control center. This optional step uses current agencies' stream flow measuring devices, data, water watch stream flows and depth gage change data with online and historical storm and flood data. Units available for Pre-flood capture can be dispatched assisted by online predictions from such data sources proposed or by several of the agencies listed herein. Much of this data is currently provided by specific locations as public data, some at 15 minute intervals during storm periods.

Water Source includes that captured from the surface of rivers during storm and flood season plus that collected at designated (by USACE) river, reservoir, or other temporary storage sites including along Gulf of Mexico in non-storm periods. The entire additions of the present method enable current control centers a national reclaimable source for storage, purification, and distribution. Selection of current or augmented storage and transport to approved customer sites will use least cost methods according to location. Whether rail, barge, tanker, trucking or eventual short pipelines, for example the location of source and customer and volume enable a true demand based inventory of a continuing source of fresh water anywhere in the US. In addition and recognition of long standing riparian water rights practices of neighboring water regions and districts across the U.S., a virtual transportation option is already in place and can be extended across several districts to literally trade back water replacement options with this available and digitally maintainable water augmentations from the present method for augmentation of fresh water. Unique sharing can, and often is practiced, and will gain new incentive to reduce actual physical transport, while redeeming riparian obligations. This invites extension of cooperative long term agreements as currently reflected in regional strategies and plans to share specific water resources. For example, the Lower Colorado River long range plans, through 2050, identify numerous riparian water sharing planned events brought to specific quantities, and ranging over hundreds of miles. The present source and methods are ideally and digitally maintainable for longer range asset sharing. Water collected and made available from recent Red River floods, for example, could serve within region locations based on distance and timing economies. Central oversight of diverse selections and options for customers involves these “temporary” or instant reservoirs (such as new strong fabric tube units) to allocate as-required temporary new requirements. Other compliant harvesting controls and treatment options will be used, coordinated with USACE, EPA, USGS and local water districts and regional planning authorities to ensure compliant effective maintenance of storage and transport equipment.

Stream flow limits to avoid “over-pump” will meet set norms of rivers and streams. Central data monitoring even during storm periods enables such necessary practices, agreements and adjustments. Pumping or harvesting units may also include barges (sized according to locations) with pumps mounted in clusters to remove flood potential water primarily to temporary tanks or flood control reservoirs ashore where available. Each barge could pump at a rate of 33 to 55 Acre/feet per hour, within flow restrictions as needed. This results in minimum 4752 Acre/Feet per day for six small pump barge units, or 66,528 Acre/Feet per two week storm period. The number of harvesting units per area can be increased as needed to maintain levels by storm center predictions. The very conservative example shows that 1,734,480 Acre/Feet of purified reclaimed water can be purified and added to the various annual US water source in the first year, doubling by the beginning of Phase Two. The total cost is within the cost of captured water, or well below current cost of flood damage claims of $2.5B annually being paid by FEMA. Infrastructure costs for adding capture equipment, tubes, pump units, tanks, reservoirs, and transportation can be significantly earned in the first phase for water and power augmentations. New instant and smart temporary reservoirs using fabric tube configurations enable on scene “test, treat, tag and store” captured water. Tagging or identification of each tube of captured excess flow further enables central digital identity for aquifer restoration, infiltration, or quality dependent applications. Identification tags and central recording improve acceptable reclamation or “after storm” release just as USACE “notches” have been designed for later release. Ongoing revenues from captured flows will sustain these resources for normal growth of population, businesses, farms, aquifer, and reserves beyond 2050. Long term planning, permitting, and installation of many of these future options require application now of current technologies and capabilities to demonstrate, regionalize, tailor and apply these multipurpose flood control steps.

On Scene Temp storage: Initially, six to twelve water borne relocatable pump stations will pump or use gravity flow directly to ashore tanks, tubes, or existing flood control reservoirs depending on locations. Location adjustment during and immediately after a storm, which is a new concept in flood control, will be driven by actual treatment conditions, flow rates and monitored water depth, quality, and appropriate storage. Many current assets built and planned by USACE and USGS for these and other purposes including habitat, wildlife restoration, and recreation will obviously be needed and partially funded by the present method. Application of significantly less expensive fabric water tubes, noted above, multiplies deflection of excess flows while greatly reducing the time of set up compared to building very expensive permanent reservoirs.

Storage and relocation: as needed after flood threat subsides would be from temporary holding or treatment sites, reservoirs, tanker ships, or other shore tanks. These options offer various delivery alternatives depending on storm capture sites and distance to ultimate purification station(s). Depending on the capacity of the selected transportation, six to twelve sites along the Mississippi, for example, could deflect, pump, temporarily store, and discharge potential flood water to shore sites or, depending on draft, to water depth to attending tanker units or barges for transport and temporary storage. Transport to optional purification sites and processing is further described herein.

Transport and hold for Purification. After capture and treatment, generally past storm season, three alternative means are available to store and transport water for final purification, storage, and customer delivery. Long standing practice of riparian water “ownership” is not altered by this method. Transport would rarely apply to afloat storage. Smaller transport units such as barges (after storm periods) might aid redistribution within USACE navigation requirements. Pumping or gravity flow capture units will be increased in Phase Two to more than double in capability to maintain a minimum 10,000 Acre/Feet per day, or 300,000 Acre/Feet per month. This capacity can be increased by Geotextile tubes to meet different or larger threats and multiple storms spaced in other areas. These variables will greatly reduce the flood damage while enabling improved environmental control during storm periods. A third alternative is enabled when additional equipment and capture team training planned in Phase Two increases the response capacity to meet extensive additional upper tributaries or storm locations. These additions further reduce lower river threats and impact, and addition of temporary water tubes provides off-stream holding for later release or test, treat, tag and classify for disposition. These options enable significant improvement of quality oversight including control and recording of details such as location of degrading stormwater trends. Data collection and review will be made according to the uniqueness of every storm season's excess flows to maximize flood damage reduction while harvesting the water away from further threats to compliant purposes. Release of contaminated flows can and will be halted and subject to new controls as required.

Purification will comply with current requirements including by Evaporation at the nearest available pre-planned power generation unit for potable water. This is in addition to initial testing and treatment at the capture site's temporary storage. As noted above, use of temporary storage in Geotextile fabric water tubes enables each tube to be tested, initially treated as needed, bar-code tagged with specific quality, date, and location, and appropriate disposition; all with central data recording for follow-on reviews. Every acre-foot so handled can further remove contaminates from downstream water sources—even if later treated and released. Power units with evaporators designed for quality control and collocated with water (input) storage and handling capability will employ highest compliant storage (output) for highest quality product to onward transport. Experience in over 80 years of maritime and U.S. Navy ships have proven this cycle provides excellent purification capability in salt and freshwater streams, like the St. Lawrence Seaway with controlled distributed release of isolated ingredients according to environmental standards. The volume potential of evaporators may not be as well known as alternative purification because each ship is built to its expected uses including crew size and support to other planned units or forces. A single maritime tanker is able to desalinate four million gallons per day; two or more such tankers have been used at Guantanamo Bay for fifty years supporting fresh water needs for a base supporting several thousand troops. Salt brine disposition is a normal part of the process.

The present method could optionally employ tankers to transport (Reclaimable water or Evaporator purified) and possibly (with installed evaporators beyond “ship's use”) purify enroute to other U.S. ports such as San Diego, Long Beach, Los Angeles, etc., based on a three to five day trip. Reservoirs, tank farms (to minimize natural evaporation), and augmented temporary stored fabric tubes located at or near the electric power stations should be one of the new norms for lower cost, higher quality water purification.

The second option is to include rail and truck capabilities at selected sites for water transport to rural customers, including waste water treatment and sludge disposition. Temporary storage, and transport to ultimate customer storage sites must be carefully planned and controlled to meet USGS, Bureau of Reclamation, and EPA requirements in existing or planned disposition, water quality, and water availability. A major driver to the success of this new water source management is transportation costs, offset by sale of resulting fresh water and reduction of flood damage costs. These are further described below. Purification is intended to also follow regional treatment requirements of EPA, DOI, USGS, Bureau of Reclamation, US Coast Guard, and maritime transport and usage requirements, and quality for selection of specific water qualities and storage vessel requirements.

After Storm: When storms, controlled run-off as proposed, and flood potential subside, pump or deflection units will relocate to various authorized designated Gulf Coast or other non-storm sites for training, equipment maintenance, or other water assignments. Sites will be partly determined by overall requirements and regionally distributed assets, including:

-   -   1) available or new temporary storage such as reservoirs, tank         farms, short-term fabric tube storage in proximity to power         plants with evaporation capability, and     -   2) transfer capabilities.

Resulting purified storage becomes part of the new predicted requirements water supply. Other inland sites of similar reservoirs of reclaimable water, purified water in tank farm sites in proximity to their evaporator equipped power plants make up the balance of new or augmented water supply inventory for future regional requirements. Together, these water operations will more easily grow with needs. Expected and incremental output will serve augmentation needs in the US, with potential water on demand inventory management functions. Deliveries to and from these sites can then be compliantly balanced to demand, adjusted for periodic drought locations and cost of associated transportation. Initially, supply and demand will balance continuing capabilities in Phase Two for water capture, storage, and movement to temporary storage, purification, or desalination sites. These tasks also depend on location of power generation sites. The joint operation and the joint planning that this method provides enables the most cost effective tool for Power and Water distribution, with augmenting potential for residential customers, businesses, farms, industries and manufacturers. It will foster pollution controls with better actual test/treat at point of initial capture to transport and storage, ultimate distribution tailored to all requirements. By flood damage and clean up avoidance, it provides ultimate long term flood pollution abatement for homes, businesses, farms and communities of affected US waterways. Use of operations control centers will not only avoid over-pumping, but tabulate planning for future changes in demand, seasonal leveling of reservoirs, current accounting and billing, adjusting or reconciling inventories for natural or atmospheric evaporation, and reward smaller water districts with low cost water augmentation as needed. Together, these centers will enable the virtual transport to minimize transportation costs.

The size and location of reservoirs and tank farms focus on customer needs for water and power. They also provide a facility for recreation and aquifer restoration. They may enable future transportation alternatives, such as regional distribution pipe lines to meet growth, arid land restoration and recharging, or new augmentation deliveries for homes and businesses.

Transportation: Significant cost effective drivers indicated above involve transport during storms or to ultimate customer storage locations, as well as current and planned adjustments as changes occur for conventional or nuclear power plant locations. U.S. port facilities and existing and/or planned storage, barge, rail, tanker, truck, and pipeline capabilities contribute significant cost effective options for the method. The present method anticipates positive, essential, innovative long term national solution options to water, power, transport, environmental, non-fossil fuel considerations, and related economic factors. Transportation alternatives, including the virtual transport noted above, can be selected, documented in plans, and adjusted as ongoing inventory objectives change. Growth and change in demand require wise planning and placement of power and water resources. Rail, water borne barge or tanker, or truck capabilities exist across the U.S. in a variety of configurations and capabilities.

The present method uses multiple task plans across all the agencies' roles to achieve the uniform economies of scale and quality to water and power resources. Distribution by the scale of existing communities and their distribution across the US can be better planned and administered by a uniform planning and funding authority over its many parts. Homeland Security requirements are also essential to planning in all phases of this method, particularly as transportation options for current and future capabilities continue to grow. Equally important benefits include reducing dependencies on resources outside the U.S. Because of the nature of current and future transportation capabilities, some of these considerations will require planning facilities in phases among agencies to preserve an early capability to meet water and power needs. Future expansion of rail deliveries or pipe lines, for example, may be justified by cost savings to support some inland customers' long term growth for augmentation. New tailored water planning and delivery for such growth as Native American locations can be expedited. As the early phases of this proposal brings reduction of cost of flood damage claims, fossil fuel dependency, and related U.S. job losses will benefit. Multiple transportation resources will also benefit in harmony with uniform planning, resulting operations, and oversight to meet growth expected while improving proposed water, power, and environment objectives.

Jobs and Labor: The above phases will generate at least 25,000 jobs for the first two phases with an initial six- to twelve unit pumping site scenario, during which 24/7 shift manning is envisioned. Expansion of pumping locations will be planned (and perhaps expanded) in Phase One as tempered by lead times of equipment acquisition, operating environment and stream monitoring capabilities. Communities along these and tributary streams need to plan the storage capability and locations well in advance based on all metropolitan growth factors. Northern locations that need to consider water tubes must initiate adjusted frost scheduling of their application, and limit sizes accordingly. Advisories to agencies will request full dissemination of plans and tasks proposed. Many current lakes and USACE developed reservoirs will need modest and continuing additions to accomplish the water harvesting and distribution needs. Capture teams, equipment, conservation, and training can be regionally administered. Many regional water authorities such as upper and lower Colorado River authority's plans and strategies have projected future growth requirements as severely restricted by rates of growth and projected assets.

The present method's gains may alter implementation steps to take advantage of Phase One lessons learned and allocate resources according to required change indicators. The majority of these jobs are envisioned to be assigned locally according to USAGE, DOI, USGS, Bureau of Reclamation, FEMA, DOT and local water districts' requirements. FEMA and USACE were able to make such allocations and adjustments as was seen during and before storms like Katrina. Many storms require preposition and relocation of very large quantities of personal support and survival materials and equipment, and such needs will continue. Addition of proposed relocatable pumping units and use of temporary storage tubes can efficiently augment this flood avoidance or prevention capability across US waterways. Assignment of capture units to potential flood locations beyond the Mississippi requires advance planning and training. Coordination and training early in Phase One for selection of equipment and location of temporary storage sites, special geographic needs, designated flood control reservoirs, and use of temporary fabric tubes will provide more payback than flood clean-up currently costs. Changes in water demand will likely increase the Phase Two shift to expand Gulf Coast operations, as described above as “after storm.” Because this project uses new and existing technologies and capabilities, trained personnel can be anticipated from the above agencies and/or military sources, but new requirement training will also take place. All units will receive operational training and appropriate safety and environmental impact training courses.

This method has many skill requirements beyond temporary deflection, pump operations, layout of initial tubes, barge manning, water purification, power, storage, security, and other transportation factors of rail, barge, and truck operations.

Storm surge and After Storm activities will be coordinated (particularly communications) among deployed units and the local Operations Control Centers. This integrated requirements planning will be part of an operations design effort that extends to capture and delivery points identified. Planning an online information system to perform this coordination, and training requires an operational infrastructure and a management team for interface with USACE and FEMA designated members.

Phase Three: Upgrade and gradual expansion of reservoirs to designated tributaries, and augmentation of harvesting flood waters to other US regions using above methods will also capitalize on existing USACE construction and controls, just as they have been doing for over 100 years. This includes flood fighting training, water capture fabric tube team training, promoting water conservation, environment protection, and reclamation projects. It also promotes development of recreation near reservoirs to aid distribution and aquifer restoration, and equipment upgrade to the specific customer needs for water. More fossil fuel dependency reduction is possible and needed, even with alternate fuel development. Future power applications may extend to railroad improvements. Coastal cities likewise need to consider and plan power plants—nuclear or conventional that can simultaneously purify water as indicated in Phases One and Two. Coastal areas also should ensure facilities developed in all phases protect against salt water incursion to the aquifer.

Plans for Phase Four need to reflect and make adjustments for above additional national growth areas and appropriate new equipment factors. There are various options based on geographical variations to be considered in this unified systems engineering method. The proximity of wells, streams, lakes, reservoirs and problem aquifer locations vary greatly by regions; and they are subject to changes in demand by growth and new discoveries. But strategy and planning of participants and related agencies of this proposal must maintain an EPA compliant view and appropriate analyses of its current and future capabilities. Transportation capability and demand location changes with many options for future needs. Arid lands in the west could benefit for example with new Houston or Brownsville site options for water, power, and transport distribution for possible future pipelines or aqueducts. Larger reservoirs and tank or aquifer storage in many locations could support continuing augmentation sources to future local water districts. The city of Chicago for example has begun deep large emergency water storage exploration under the city and suburbs in near ideal rock characteristics that have significant long range water storage potential. Addition of tank cars to many remote rail options (lease with option to buy) with new efficient engines may economize future distribution needs. Addition of lower cost barges to move new areas of reclaimable waters in storm seasons or in a dry period could also be considered in plans to capture and desalinate in a lower cost scenario. Growth could also alter the economics of resource output to customers with short line pipelines or rail to North and Western customers. The same rationale for Eastern more dry areas even visible in USGS current drought maps should be considered to jointly plan resources for Alabama, Georgia and Florida as well as Boston, and newly identified locations. Water transport needs to be considered among alternatives to economically link existing waterways, rail and truck expertise throughout the US. Phase Four will look back on any lessons learned, transportation options and quality benefits to metropolitan water as well as regional grid options, where national interests can be met at the early planning stages using a broader coordinated perspective. Strategic planning should and will ensure that the addition of capabilities satisfies cost benefit solutions compared with changing conditions and satisfy current cost economies of scale.

Technology Details: The method described herein may take one of two coordinated approaches to capturing floods on, for example, the Los Angeles River:

-   -   1) Integrate the multitude of weather and stream sensors into a         “smart-reservoir” system with remotely operated pumps and valves         to manage existing flood-capture infrastructure in real time.     -   2) Develop and deploy “instant-reservoirs” which allow property         owners and farmers to select month-by-month if they will rent         their property for temporary water storage. In both cases, the         water that is captured during the few hours when the river is         running high will be transferred into groundwater storage during         the weeks that often separate winter storms.

The City and County of Los Angeles' Low Impact Development ordinances will require property owners of new developments to capture and clean the first ½-¾ inch of rain, making the next few inches in each storm clean and more valuable. The income from the sale of that clean water captured in smart and instant reservoirs can, in turn, pay for more stormwater cleaning and river restoration. Smart and instant reservoirs can more than double the capture and storage of Los Angeles River flood water. The captured water will cost less than current prices for imported water.

Smart Reservoir: Many agencies are operating sensors, automated samplers, and remotely operated facilities in the Los Angeles River watershed. The National Weather service has weather prediction and real-time weather sensing systems. The United States Geologic Survey has stream gauges. The City of Los Angeles has automated samplers. Many agencies have potable, reclaimed, and waste water SCADA systems. Additional sensors, including cameras, connected to computers can be programmed to recognize floating trash, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, bacteria, and oil sheen.

Generally, the various systems provide data independently, are not compatible, and may have signal interference issues with themselves and the numerous other electronic devices of urban areas. However, the sensors and remote operations can be integrated into one real-time operation and their utility becomes greater than the sum of their parts. For example:

-   -   1) Where gravity flow can be arranged, remotely operated valves         can steer the appropriate amounts of water into each reservoir         for capture and cleaning.     -   2) Where gravity is not available, large portable pumps can be         prepositioned and moved along the river to catch the first flush         of trash and pollutant laden water for later treatment.     -   3) Operators would also know where to move and when to run those         same pumps to fill permanent and temporary flood-capture basins         with the exceptionally clean water of mid- and late storm.     -   4) In some cases, inflatable dams in the river channel could         provide sufficient gravity flows to replace the pumps.     -   5) Cameras might automatically count trash floating in the water         to prove compliance with the trash TMDL (total maximum daily         load limit) or to trigger valves and pumps which grab that         trash.     -   6) Other sensors might sound alarms on plugged storm drains or         predict imminent debris flows.

Instant Reservoirs: Instant-reservoirs can transform any land into a reservoir up to 6 feet deep in a few hours or quickly add height to existing reservoirs and spreading basins. After the captured water percolates into groundwater aquifers, the instant reservoir components become invisible or are moved to a new site.

12 acres of vacant property between E. 12th Street and E. Washington Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles have been converted to a 70 acre-foot instant reservoir. The property is surrounded by industry and rail yards. The owner may want to build manufacturing, warehousing, or rail facilities in the near future. Instant-reservoir allows an important, income generating, and temporary use from November through April. From May through October, the lot remains accessible and available for equipment parking and other activities.

Days before capturing water, the watertubes are rolled-up and waiting on site. The operators of the smart reservoir system would fill the watertubes with water from the river a few hours before higher river flows. Filling the watertubes causes them to unroll, and form walls about 6 feet high around the vacant lot.

A stability tube and an earth berm can be used. Either, not both, are necessary to prevent the watertube from rolling sideways when pushed by the force of the contained water. The earth berm or stability tube need only be a third the height of the water tube, or about 2 feet high.

The watertubes themselves contain relatively little water (about 10 acre-feet). The bulk of the water is captured in the reservoir formed by the watertube perimeter. The instant reservoir scales up inexpensively because the watertube length increases linearly, while the area increases by the square. That is: if the perimeter of the reservoir increases by 3 times, the volume of the reservoir increases by a factor of 9 times.

Due to advances in textile manufacture, the watertubes can be both inexpensive and portable. Unlike earthen dikes, any water storage site remains accessible and adaptable, except when storing water. When not storing water, it can be an open space habitat, soccer field, golf course, even a parking lot. Therefore, property owners could agree to short-term (5-year) easements, paid by the value of the captured water. With these incentives, more sites will become available relatively quickly.

Expanding reservoirs and spreading grounds with previous technology requires property purchases or expensive grading with associated extensive property transfer safeguards and environmental documentation. Public agencies must spend years ensuring they are spending public money wisely, because money spent on one site will not be available to buy other sites. Similarly, the property owners will forgo any future benefits from the land they sell. Using watertubes, more property will be available each year simply because both private individuals and public agencies can act quicker on temporary arrangements than on permanent arrangements.

Note that instant-reservoir operation can be modified to provide temporary wetlands treatment systems improving the quality of dry season river flows. This would help meet TMDLs for trash, bacteria, and nutrients at lower economic and energy costs than more equipment intensive solutions.

The expense and non-availability of clean water for blending with cleaned water sometimes prevents recycling water. In the middle and end of late-season storms, the river water is clean because pure rain is very clean. This clean water can be leveraged to increase recycling of dry-season flows to groundwater recharge. The California Department of Public Health (DPH) is concerned the treatment of the relatively polluted dry-season flows will not be perfect. Therefore DPH requires diluting the treated and cleaned dry-season flows with known clean water before storing the blended water in the ground.

Pump and Pump Sizes:

Gravity flow arrangements are preferred, but portable or permanent pumps and pipes may be more cost and space effective. During a 100-year flood, the flow in the Los Angeles River would be 14,000 acre-feet per hour. The example in FIG. 11 stores 70 acre-feet of water. The pumps might be sized to fill the reservoir in two hours, transition to the next reservoir in one hour, fill the next reservoir, and so on for the duration of storm flows. The capacity of pumps and associated pipe diameters for a range of flows from 1 to 10,000 acre-feet per hour. 

1) A method for managing flood waters, comprising the steps of: a) determining excess flow locations and capturing water directly from predicted flood locations; b) treatment and relocation of water from a capture site for discharge to a temporary storage site for screening and testing of quality; c) tagging of water quality; d) storage of captured water; e) transportation of stored water to areas in need. 2) The method of claim 1, wherein determining excess flow locations and availability of capture units of step (a) is accomplished by an online database. 3) The method of claim 1, wherein tagging in step (c) includes location of water capture, volume, date, and temporary storage; wherein tagged water is grouped for disposition. 4) The method of claim 1, wherein tagging in step (c) can be by instant or smart reservoirs. 5) The method of claim 1, wherein not needed excess flows of water are released after a storm season; wherein higher quality captured and treated water is retained and distributed by metropolitan regions. 6) The method of claim 1, wherein relocatable pumping or gravity flow diversion units can capture potential flood waters; wherein said flood waters are pinpointed by a control center using current agencies' stream flow measuring devices, data, water watch stream flows and depth gage change data with online and historical storm and flood data. 7) The method of claim 1, wherein transportation means and storage location of said captured water is step (e) is determined by a database consisting of location of water source, location of customer, and volume of water. 8) The method of claim one, wherein virtual transportation is the means of transporting said captured water in step (e). 9) The method of claim 1, wherein said captured water of step (d) is post storm purified for drinking and sold to communities for drinking or general use in a draught. 10) The method of claim 9, wherein proceeds from said sale of said purified water are used to fund future expansion of capture sites and transportation of said purified water. 11) The method of claim 9, wherein said purification can use excess heat from power generation plants to evaporate said water. 